Monok: A Chicken Meal for Less than P20

What can you get for P20? It is barely enough to give you a decent meal for a day. However, at Tondo, one of the most impoverished areas in the country, you can get the double-cook spicy chicken meal called “monok”. It is chicken scraps from hotels in Manila, redesigned as spicy chicken adobo flakes.

Where in Manila, with one of the highest standards of living in the country, can a person receiving income below poverty can get a decent meal? Undoubtedly, residents in Tondo were happy to see that they can stretch their meager budget and get on the day with a full stomach. Such a meal generated many good vibes to suggest that people are innovative enough to respond to the challenges of poverty.

Other people who heard that monok are scrap chicken flakes from hotels feel squeamish in tasting the dish. “Something is not right,” was the typical reaction of people who heard it the first time. It subtly implies that poverty has many dimensions. People need to eat, and people need to make a living.

The economic concept behind this is the elasticity of demand. In a depressed community, more people wanted food at a lower price. Of course, the chicken scrap outsourced from hotels is way cheaper than the fresh chicken meat in the market. If Loida will add up all the cost of producing monok it is way below P15. Thus Loida, who peddle monok at P15 per serving, makes more money at the end of the day.

Loida is most likely to attract more customers who might otherwise want a chicken meal less than P50. Loida, inherited the monok business from her mother, realized that the dish attracted loyal fans in their community. Moreover, the distinctive supply chain and the unique recipe of monok mean that Loida is the only person who knows how to prepare the dish.

Residents in Tondo truly appreciate monok considering that the cost of a fried chicken is more than P50. Monok routinely sells less than half the price. With P20, any resident can pay for an entire meal. They get more food for just P20. Due to the current pandemic, more and more people lose their job, monok will draw more customers.